Wheelchairs are well known transportation appliances enabling the infirm, disabled and unwell person to move about with greater mobility than otherwise. Essentially, wheelchairs are small, single person conveyances typified by a chair supported by two outer, large diameter drive wheels, and with two smaller pilot wheels or caster wheels located in front of the user's center of gravity. The chair may include a padded seat, or it may include a webbing or sling seat. Alternatively, the chair may be molded from a suitable material. A chair back is typically provided for the user's comfort. A leg rest assembly may be attached to the seat. Motive power may be supplied by an attendant pushing the wheelchair, by the user's hands and arms, or by an auxiliary power source.
While current designs of wheelchairs have proliferated, needs continue to arise that are not satisfactorily addressed by these current designs. For example, in current designs, it is often difficult to remove the leg support device for storage during travel or to adjust the leg support device for accommodation of single or double amputees. Such designs also often fail to provide a leg rest that is easily adjustable to support a particular leg length or that is adjustable to improve the space constraints when entering and exiting the wheelchair.
Other problems have arisen with regard to seating systems of current wheelchair designs. For example, present wheelchair seating systems are not always sufficiently collapsible into an easily stored configuration. Nor are present seat system designs easily adjustable to orient the height or center of gravity of the user when situated in the chair
When a particular wheel camber is desired for a particular application, present designs often fail to provide a wheelchair wherein the wheel camber angle can be easily and quickly adjustable. Furthermore, in those designs that do have a variable camber feature, oftentimes, the wheel base and the seat height are undesirably affected after a camber angle change so as to result in a wheelchair being too wide or sitting too low.
Current designs also tend to have too rigid a framework. Consequently, travel over rough and unpaved surfaces can be especially uncomfortable to the user since shock and vibration is easily transmitted through the rigid framework.
When traveling, a user desires a wheelchair that is maneuverable through narrow passageways and that is convenient to store in a storage compartment, e.g., an aircraft storage bin. In addition, the especially active user prefers a wheelchair that is easily adaptable to different uses, e.g. for sports activities such as tennis or basketball or for normal transportation needs. Furthermore, a user prefers a wheelchair that is adjustable in a wide variety of positions so as to allow proper support according to the particular needs of a user. Current designs have not satisfactorily addressed all of these needs in a single wheelchair.